No joke, my roommate and I have eaten this salad four days in a row–it’s that good. It’s also one of the easiest and quickest recipes, aside from the time it takes to cook the quinoa, which is all of 10-15 minutes. The lemon-mustard vinaigrette compliments the salad wonderfully, and tames the bitterness of the kale. Considering how much salad we made, I’ll be eating this for another few days.
Since having dental surgery last week, my diet has consisted of frozen yogurt and soup. But one can only eat ice cream and Ramen noodles for so long. So, after a few days of recovering, I decided it was time to get back in the kitchen and make soup that I would actually enjoy. This gourmet tomato soup with lemon arugula pesto sure did the trick. I’d never made arugula pesto before, and I’ve got to say, I might even prefer it to basil pesto!
Last weekend and this week have been pretty busy, from helping my new roommate, Megan, move into my apartment to work piling up at the office. I did, however, find time on Sunday to make a quick trip to Trader Joe’s and to whip up this pasta salad. Since it continues to warm up here in LA, I figured this cold pasta would be perfect for lunch.
Megan and I are devoting the rest of the week to furnishing and decorating the apartment. Last night, we painted our table and chairs white, while sipping on wine and listening to the Hall & Oates Pandora station. It was pretty ideal. :)
Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day! I spent the day/evening in Malibu with my friends Ellen and Danielle. We shopped and ate an early dinner at Malibu Seafood. Our spread ranged from fresh fish tacos to deep-fried halibut pieces to clam strips to New England clam chowder. Everything was delicious–I can’t wait to go back.
These homemade veggie burgers were also fantastic…and much healthier! Since I’m always making turkey or beef burgers, these were a nice change. Though somewhat time-consuming, the burgers were delectable, with a wonderful variety of flavors and textures.
Hey there, Ellen.
Since I’m late to post, happy belated St. Patrick’s Day! From the posts I’ve seen, it looks like you all ate and drank pretty well on the holiday. I ate terribly over the weekend, so I’ve tried to get back on track this week.
Though I can’t say burgers are the healthiest option, this recipe uses ground turkey, which is leaner, and I used thin style hamburger buns. That helps a little…right?
Regardless, these burgers were juicy and full of flavor–from the slight tartness of the lemon and zest to the tangy goat cheese inside the patty to the slightly spicy roasted red pepper relish.
I’m sure most of you have your go-to recipe for specific appetizers, dinners and desserts–and that’s the case for me and these lemon bars. I’ve used this recipe for a few years and have never tried a different one. I’ve yet to find a reason to do so, considering the bars are always a hit wherever I bring them.
BUT, if I were to ever stray from this recipe, first on my list is Greg’s recipe from the Euro Pane Bakery in Pasadena. Considering the rave reviews of the bakery on Yelp, I have no doubts that the lemon bars are as delicious as they say.
We made and ate an excessive amount of food for the Super Bowl. From seven layer dip to spinach artichoke dip to deviled eggs (oh yes, with bacon grease) to homemade chicken tenders to pork sliders to veggie platters…the list goes on.
I was in charge of bringing dessert and wanted to bake cupcakes since I hadn’t in a while, which is odd considering it’s one of my favorite desserts to make. These weren’t just any cupcake though–not only were they filled with a blackberry puree, but they also had a graham cracker crust, which provided a pleasant textural contrast to the light lemon cake. The cupcakes were a hit at the party and I will most definitely be making them again, as should you!
Though I didn’t have a preference who won yesterday, the majority of our party was rooting for the Patriots. So, obviously it wasn’t the desired outcome for them, but congrats to the Giants fans.
Just a glimpse of half of the (half-eaten) food from yesterday.
Thank you so much to Natalie at Cook Eat Live Vegetarian for passing a Versatile Blogger award onto me. Please go check out her blog–both her story and cooking are truly inspirational.
Award rules: Thank the person who awarded you by linking back to their post, list 7 things about yourself and pass the award on to 15 other new or newly discovered blogs.
As I’ve mentioned before, I love hosting dinner parties on week nights. They break up long work weeks, and offer a chance to hang out with friends sans the bar scene. Selfishly, dinner parties also give me an opportunity to post something on my blog. :)
I thought it fitting to make Ina Garten’s simple recipe for chicken piccata, since summer is approaching and I already had most of the essential ingredients–lemon, capers and chicken. My roommate made a delicious artichoke and goat cheese strata to compliment the chicken, which unfortunately, I forgot to photograph.
Our dinner party was complete when my roommate discovered the country music channel on TV. If you would have asked me one year ago, I would not have approved of her finding–I despised country music. But, all thanks to my friend Dana, I listen to the music genre on a regular now.
Overall, the night was a success, filled with heaping amounts of delectable food, generously poured glasses of red wine and a little Blake Shelton to set the mood. :)
When I read the title of this recipe on the Food Network website, I was instantly sold. Cooking and baking with alcohol adds a unique dimension of flavor to dishes that other ingredients often can’t imitate.
I altered the recipe a bit, primarily because I didn’t have some of the ingredients on hand. For the batter, I used Blue Moon beer, since I already had some in my fridge. The citrus infused beer worked splendidly with the lemon juice and zest in the dipping sauce and batter. My roommate absolutely loved the sauce and commented on how well it would pair with grilled artichokes.
Frying the asparagus posed somewhat of a challenge, as the batter was extremely sticky. Therefore, my roommate and I created an assembly line–I coated the asparagus in the batter while she fried a few at a time.
I recommend serving the asparagus immediately after frying, or warming in the oven before serving.